THE GALLERIES

A unique look at the life and times of Walt Disney

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Early Beginnings

Walt Disney was destined to delight the world. His fondest boyhood memories included life on the family farm in Marceline, Missouri. Early influences from his time in the Midwest and France would set his career path.

1901–1923

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Early Beginnings

A Creative Voice

Walt’s love for drawing began at an early age. So naturally, when he entered high school, he joined the staff of the student publication, The Voice. Creatively, he found his own voice by illustrating short stories, drawing cartoons about campus happenings, and taking pictures as a staff photographer.

WALT’S STORY

Laugh-O-gram Films

Walt was only 20 years old when he launched his first animation studio. Young and inexperienced, he entered into a bad business deal that led his small company into bankruptcy just 18 months later. Walt considered it “a good, hard failure”—a lesson he took to heart and carried with him to Hollywood.

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Garage Experiments

Working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Walt felt boxed in with the firm’s bland animation approach. So he borrowed a stop-motion camera from his boss and started testing out ideas. Using the camera tricks he devised, Walt created Newman Laugh-O-grams, a series of animated ads and gags.

FAMILY

Joining the War Effort

Still a year too young to join the armed forces but eager to enlist, Walt concocted a plan. He had his unsuspecting mother sign a written affidavit verifying his birthdate, December 5, 1901. “She’d just no more than turned her back. Then I picked up the pen and from the [number] one, I made it zero.” At the stroke of a pen, he was 17 and off to France.

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The Move to Hollywood

1923–1928

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The Move to Hollywood

Alice Comedies

While other moviemakers were animating characters to interact with live action, Walt had a uniquely different idea. “So I reversed it. I said, ‘That’s a new twist’ and it sold.” It was the beginning of the Alice Comedies, an ongoing series about a real girl living in a cartoon world.

Quote: excerpt from the book Walt Disney Famous Quotes.

WALT’S STORY

Dear Mrs. Davis

Walt landed a contract based on an unfinished film he had made earlier in Kansas City about a girl named Alice, portrayed by Virginia Davis. From it, he launched the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio with his older brother Roy, but he still needed his star to get going. So with a very persuasive letter, Walt convinced the star’s family to move out West.

It All Started with a Mouse

Resilient after losing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to an unscrupulous distributor in New York, Walt started toying with the idea of a mouse called Mortimer on the train ride home. His wife Lilly said, “I don’t think that would be good for a mouse’s name. Let’s call it Mickey.”

Quote: excerpt from museum website timeline.

FAMILY

Walt Marries Lillian Bounds

A year after Walt established the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, a lovely new inker caught his eye. A romance soon sprang up and by the following summer, Walt and Lilly were married. “I think that Dad was smitten with my mother almost immediately. It was probably mutual. It was a sweet courtship.”—Diane Disney Miller

1928–1940

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Exploring New Horizons

The Development of Character

Walt wanted to personify his characters. Starting with the 1933 Silly Symphony Three Little Pigs, he focused on giving them distinct personality traits through the way they moved. The art of personality animation would become one of the Studios’ most important innovations.

WALT’S STORY

“By nature, I’m an experimenter.”

When Walt imagined cartoons, he set them to music in his mind. So he tested the idea on his first Silly Symphony, The Skeleton Dance. “We had to get beyond getting a laugh.” Throughout the 1930s, the innovative cartoon series served as his creative testing ground for the advancement of animation.

First quote: excerpt from the book Walt Disney Famous Quotes. Second quote: excerpt from museum text panel.

The Invention of the Storyboard

As with the 1938 Academy Award®-winning short Ferdinand the Bull, the storyboard allowed Walt to create a coherent and consistent story. Invented at The Walt Disney Studios, storyboards would allow the filmmakers to visualize the plot, shuffle story sketches, or swap them out until the story was just right.

FAMILY

“Mickey Mouse has a daughter.”

The Los Angeles Times made the announcement the day after Walt and Lilly became proud parents of their first child, Diane. “Wanting to have a larger family and for me not to be an only child, they decided to adopt a daughter. Shortly after my third birthday… my sister Sharon came into our home.”—Diane Disney Miller

First quote: excerpt from the Los Angeles Times. Second quote: excerpt from museum text panel.

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The Transition into Features

Walt pushed the limits with his first feature-length animated film. Four years in the making, the financial risk paid off. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs captured hearts worldwide and silenced industry skeptics.

1936–1938

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The Transition into Features

The Moviola

The Walt Disney Studios’ first feature-length film was an enormous undertaking. Walt relied on the Moviola—an editor’s viewing machine—to study the animated dailies and shape the story he envisioned. Walt was a master storyteller—he frequently had scenes redrawn until he was completely satisfied.

WALT’S STORY

The Soup Sequence

With so much riding on the film’s success, the story had to be perfect and scenes that didn’t advance the story were left on the cutting room floor. Walt’s toughest decision was deleting one of his personal favorites, a sequence of the dwarfs eating soup that had taken a year and a half to produce.

A Novel Idea

The studio faced one of its greatest challenges of personality animation—how to individualize seven similar-looking Dwarfs. Walt decided the best way to start was by naming them descriptively: Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Doc, the last, “because that sounded officious, he was sort of a leader, you see,” explained Walt.

Quote: excerpt from text panel.

Family

Home, Sweet Home

According to Walt, “A man should never neglect his family for business.” A true family man, he made it a point to rarely bring work home. Away from the studio, Walt enjoyed a typical life with Lilly and their two girls: “I tried to set up my home as something apart.”

First quote: excerpt from the book Walt Disney Famous Quotes. Second quote: excerpt from museum text panel.

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New Success & Greater Ambitions

In his newly constructed Burbank studio, Walt came up with novel production techniques that made Bambi and his forest friends look convincing, brought Pinocchio to life, and stirred the imagination and senses with Fantasia.

1939–1940

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New Success & Greater Ambitions

The Perfection of Pinocchio

Walt was always raising the bar. He set up the Character Model Department to help animators bring characters to life by keeping their animation consistent. Along with model sheets, the department produced three-dimensional models that could be viewed from any angle. With these developments, Pinocchio became The Walt Disney Studios’ most meticulously animated feature yet.

WALT’S STORY

Animal Anatomy

For Bambi, Walt presented a new challenge: “Develop the cartoon’s unnatural but seeming natural anatomy.” With the help of an art instructor and the presence of live animals in the studio, the artists succeeded in capturing the characters’ natural appearances, while still retaining the expressions that give them personality.

Quote: excerpt from the book Walt Disney Famous Quotes.

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“We have worlds to conquer here.”

Walt pictured Fantasia as an opportunity with unlimited possibilities. In collaboration with conductor Leopold Stokowski, he set eight classical compositions to visually enchanting stories, and recorded the orchestra with an innovative stereophonic process dubbed Fantasound. Fantasia became one of the Studios’ most ambitious cinematic experiences in sight and sound.

Quote: excerpt from museum gallery wall.

FAMILY

A Moment of Revelation

One day after school, a young Diane Disney came running up to her father and asked, “Are you Walt Disney?” to which he replied, “Yes, Honey.” Connecting the dots, she commanded, “Give me your autograph,” a request on behalf of a schoolmate if he was indeed the famous Walt Disney.

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Patriotic Contributions

1941–1945

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Patriotic Contributions

Film for the War Effort

Production changed dramatically when the government contracted The Walt Disney Studios for a gamut of military and propaganda films. The unusual animated feature Victory Through Air Power, based on Alexander de Seversky’s book, was produced out of Walt’s personal initiative, because he strongly believed in its ideas.

WALT’S STORY

A Radical Change Overnight

Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Walt received a phone call at home from the studio manager: “Walt, the Army is moving in on us.” Shortly after, Army units arrived at the Studios, posted guards at the gates, and set up base to protect the nearby Lockheed aircraft plant.

Quote: excerpt from museum text panel.

The Good Neighbor Tour

When the United States government asked Walt to visit South America to promote its “good neighbor” policies, Walt and a group of studio artists used their travels to develop cartoon story ideas. Saludos Amigos became the Studios’ first Latin American feature, premiering in Rio de Janeiro. Its overwhelming popularity led to the production of The Three Caballeros.

FAMILY

In the Presence of The Army

Walt and Lilly’s daughters were no strangers to the Studios or to the Army personnel present there during the war. “The new Burbank studio became our playground—my sister’s and mine—and we roller-skated there, we learned to ride bikes there, and rode our bikes all over that lot.”—Diane Disney Miller

Postwar Rebuilding

1946–1950

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Postwar Rebuilding

Disneylandia

Walt was introduced to the world of miniatures in 1939. Over the years, he collected and crafted them with the idea in mind of building a traveling exhibition of dioramas depicting historic Americana—a hobby he relished. “When I work with these small objects, the cares of the studio fade away.”

Quote: excerpt from museum text panel.

WALT’S STORY

“By hook or by crook”

“By hook or by crook, we’ve got to get going,” Walt said in the wake of World War II. It was time to build. “Now I needed to diversify further, and that meant live action.” Walt’s first foray combined sequences of live action with animation—Song of the South would earn two Academy Awards®.

First quote: excerpt from museum text panel. Second quote: excerpt from the book Walt Disney: His Life in Pictures.

Underwater Ingenuity

Underwater cinematography was vital to the success of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Tasked with building the camera’s waterproof housing, The Walt Disney Studios’ machine shop cleverly integrated a miniature air tank that, by equalizing the internal and external pressure as the camera submerged, prevented the housing from leaking.

FAMILY

Daddy Duties

“Dad, with us, did everything a normal father would do for his children and then some. He drove us to school every day of our lives until I had a driver’s license and could drive, and then he continued to drive Sharon for a couple of years.”—Diane Disney Miller

Walt & the Natural World

1948–1960

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Walt & the Natural World

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True-Life Adventures

Walt’s affinity for nature prompted him to send a small crew to film the Alaskan wilderness. What the footage revealed fascinated Walt—in particular, scenes of seals in the Pribilof Islands. In 1949 Seal Island became the first in a series of award-winning nature documentaries for The Walt Disney Studios.

WALT’S STORY

“I said, keep shooting!”

Capturing nature’s wonders required months, sometimes even years. Under unpredictable shooting conditions, Walt’s cinematographers were reluctant to waste film. Walt recalled, “I had to sell them on the idea that the film was the cheapest thing.” The films would yield some of nature’s most spectacular moments ever seen.

Quote: excerpt from museum text panel.

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Face-to-face with Nature

In contrast to the typical nature education films, True-Life Adventures brought excitement to the screen. Walt’s innovative approach combined professional cinematography with intriguing storytelling to create a different kind of documentary—one that he believed would increase the appreciation and understanding of nature worldwide.

Family

A Big Idea on a Small Park Bench

Saturday was always Daddy’s Day for Walt’s two girls. “And we’d go to Griffith Park and there was a beautiful carousel there,” recalled Diane. While observing his daughters at play, Walt imagined a place where children and parents could have fun together—an idea he would later realize as Disneyland.

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Disneyland & Beyond

Walt went beyond the big screen and turned his dream of Disneyland into a reality, entertained families at home on televisions across America, and laid out an “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,” which he called EPCOT—his concept of everyday life in the future.

1950–1965

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Disneyland & Beyond

Adventures in Transportation

From a vintage railroad to the futuristic Monorail, Walt shared his fascination with transportation by building various transport-themed attractions at Disneyland. For children, he created the Autopia so they could get behind the wheel just like grownups—and set aside two of the attraction’s motorized cars as gifts for his first grandson and granddaughter.

WALT’S STORY

Turning a Dream into Reality

“I had a little dream for Disneyland adjoining the studio. I couldn’t get anybody to go along with me because we were going through this financial depression,” Walt said. So he formed the private company WED Enterprises, Inc., and three short years later, opened the amusement park of his dreams.

Quote: excerpt from the book Walt Disney: His Life in Pictures.

A City of Tomorrow

With a strong desire to enrich the experience of everyday life, Walt set his sights on the future. He conceptualized an actual working city where American industry can test its newest inventions to improve the way people lived. He called it the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT.

FAMILY

Days Before the Grand Opening

Walt and Lilly celebrated their 30th anniversary at Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe saloon. “Everybody in the room notices that my dad… started to climb over the balcony and climbed down to the stage. And then he’s standing on the stage and he’s just beaming at people,” remembered Diane.

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Remembering Walt Disney

Walt was one of a kind. His imagination not only transformed entertainment, but also inspired the world. Through his legacy of creativity and imagination, he will forever touch the lives of the young and the young at heart.

1966

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Remembering Walt Disney

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December 15, 1966

Walt’s untimely death occurred 10 days after his 65th birthday. His accomplishments were countless, his contributions extraordinary, and his legacy a source of joy and inspiration to the world. All from a man who once hoped that we never lose sight of one thing—that it all started with a mouse.

“The greatest wealth a man may acquire is the wisdom he gains from living. And sometimes, out of the small beginnings, come the forces that shape a whole life.”

—John Tucker Battle, screenwriter, So Dear to My Heart

“Walt never lost it… that wonderful fascination you have with things when you’re a child… the sense of wonder that there’s always more to learn, always more to see and do. And, Walt certainly had that, and he passed that on to all of us.”

—Floyd Norman, animator

“He was just an ordinary man, with the most extraordinary talent of making you feel that you were important, whereas in actual fact he was the one. He was the driving force that made you come alive.”